fix Corrupt PST

How to fix Outlook PST corruption issues?

Microsoft Outlook is a popular and widely-used e-mail client. It is used by both individual and business users for the range of services it offers. All the email data is stored in Outlook database with the extension .pst (personal storage table) in the storage media (hard disk) of computer. Sometimes, Outlook users find complain that they are facing issues while trying to start Outlook. During this period, they receive error messages indicating corruption of the file.

Whatever may be the reason of PST file corruption; you come across various issues. PST file items such as emails, drafts, calendars, contacts, journal, tasks, notes etc. become inaccessible. Here are some of the common error messages which display at the time of PST file corruption:

"Errors have been detected in the file Outlook.pst."

"The file Outlook.pst could not be found."

"Outlook.pst is not a personal storage folder file."

"PST has reached the maximum size limit."

The above error messages indicate that your Outlook PST files have been corrupted and you cannot access them until you fix existing errors. You must try to fix all possible errors of PST file. Inbox repair tool (Scanpst.exe) is an inbuilt tool offered by Microsoft; it is useful in fixing PST file errors.

Inbox Repair tool (Scanpst.exe): It scans corrupt PST file, resolves the corruption issues and repairs it within few minutes. Scanpst.exe is installed at the time of MS Outlook installation. It is located here in these locations:

Before using this tool, you are recommended to create a backup copy of the current PST file because some part of PST data may get lose while using this tool. You should remember that this tool (Scanpst.exe) is useful in case of minor PST issues but unable to fix severe PST file issues. If you are not satisfied with the given result of Scanpst.exe then you should look for a professional tool which can fix all PST issues and recover PST file data successfully. Outlook PST repair is a third party tool which is much powerful to offer you the best possible result and
fix corrupt pst.

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Common causes for corruption

Corruption of PST file header: Mostly users compress their PST file data to reduce the size. Whenever if any interruption occurs due to power surge during this process then there are chances for PST header file corruption. This leads to the Outlook PST file corruption and data lose.

Large PST file size: It is the most significant reason of PST file corruption. Almost all versions of MS Outlook store a limited size of PST file. On exceeding this size limit, PST file gets corrupted, damaged or broken down.

Exchange server crash: Synchronization of Outlook PST files with Exchange server is very essential. In case, during this process if Exchange server gets crashed due to any possible reason, PST file gets corrupted.

Abrupt termination of MS Outlook: Abnormal termination of MS Outlook leads to corruption of PST file data. It may be intentionally or unintentionally.

Virus attack: There are various malicious viruses that adversely affect integrity of PST files.